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Doc Watson remembered by Steve Martin, Rosanne Cash and Ricky Skaggs

Master flatpicker Doc Watson talks about his long and successful musical career at his home in Deep Gap, N.C., on March 15, 2000, The Grammy-award winning folk musician, whose lightning-fast style of flatpicking influenced guitarists around the world for more than a half-century, died on May 29, 2012, at a hospital in Winston-Salem, according to a hospital spokeswoman and his management company. He was 89.

Watson died at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, where he was hospitalized recently after falling at his home in Deep Gap, 100 miles northwest of Charlotte. He recently had abdominal surgery and had been in critical condition for several days.

According to Folklore Productions, private funeral arrangements are pending.

News of his death has sparked a batch of tributes from stars, ranging from Steve Martin to Rosanne Cash.

Singer Ricky Skaggs called Watson "an old ancient warrior."

"He prepared all of us to carry this on," Skaggs said. "He knew he wouldn't last forever. He did his best to carry the old mountain sounds to this generation."

Watson's simple, unadorned voice conveyed an unexpected amount of emotion, but it was his guitar playing that always amazed - and intimidated. Countless guitarists have tried to emulate Watson's renditions of songs such as "Tennessee Stud," "Shady Grove" and "Deep River Blues."

Mandolin player Sam Bush remembers feeling that way when he first sat down next to "the godfather of all flatpickers" in 1974.

"But Doc puts you at ease about that kind of stuff," Bush said. "I never met a more generous kind of musician. He is more about the musical communication than showing off with hot licks. ... He seems to always know what notes to play. They're always the perfect notes. He helped me learn the space between the notes is as valuable as the ones you play."

Here's what other had to say about the guitarist who influenced generations with his flatpicking style: